A. Field of the Invention
This relates to enabling an individual to properly calculate carbohydrate loads from restaurant menus. This is particularly important for diabetics to properly monitor insulin levels.
B. Prior Art
There are many prior art references that teach devices and provide information related to nutrition. A representative example of this type of patent can be found in the prior art is Hoggle, U.S. Publication 2009/0275002. This application and method is provided for the user to determine individual nutritional information and requirements pertaining to menus and recipes that suited to an individual user. In this application, an individual uses a barcode scanner to scan information regarding a menu and altar the intake depending on information that is received. The Hoggle reference does not specifically relate to diabetic compliance, but it provides information to integrate information that would be helpful for a diabetic.
Another patent publication that deals specifically with diabetes is Graham, U.S. Publication 2002/007996. The Graham discusses a method for diet planning, labeling, and promotion of decaffeinated coffee. Again, this deals only with one item.
Another example in the prior art is Kuang, which is specifically related to diet control and allows an individual to input information and store the information about foods, providing warnings concerning consumption of foods. Again, this is not specifically related to diabetes and is not integrated with the insulin pump.
Some of the other prior art also deals with proper or appropriate insulin dosing found on the insulin pump. An example of this is Zivitz. However, this is not an automatic system, and an individual must first calibrate the amount of insulin on the pump.
As was discussed earlier, this device will allow an individual to use a barcode scanner to scan items on a restaurant menu to specifically determine the carbohydrate load, which is important if not vital to a diabetic. This information can then be tailored and integrated specifically to the insulin pump so that the appropriate amount of insulin is injected.
With this device the exact amount of insulin that needs to be dosed can be calculated for individuals who need to inject and do not use a pump.
This device and method eliminates guesswork therefore resulting in a greater quality of life for the diabetic patient and cost savings by not dosing too much insulin.